I have noticed over the years that every family talks about money just a little differently.  Some families are very open, sharing salaries of siblings, which of their aunts and uncles are "well off" and which ones aren't, who has money stashed away for retirement, etc.  And other families consider talking dollars and cents are real taboo - not for polite discussion - far too intrusive and personal.

I have found that companies are much the same way.  Some share project budgets relatively freely so everyone knows which are the big, high dollar, high visibility projects, and  others are willing to talk about any project details (tasks, scope, risks, etc.) except costs.  If you're not in Finance, you don't need to know!

I think that's one of the bigger challenges in successfully implementing a project management process in general, and doing so in pmPoint in particular.  There are quite a few cost fields in pmPoint as well as some nice graphs to show actual vs planned costs, etc.   Not an accounting system by any stretch, but just enough so that if you're one of those companies that is "OK" with sharing cost information, you can get the job done.  So the real challenge is this: 

·         As a project manager or other project stakeholder, what are you empowered to share about project estimated or actual costs?

·         How does everyone's view of project costs and real budget issues affect your ability to execute projects and control scope and schedule?

Some of the tougher conversations I've ever had with my kids have been trying to find a way to explain to them that we can't afford a vacation to Cancun, an in-ground pool, a new bicycle or some other "nice to have" item that they think they simply can't live without.

Have you given some thought to how you want to have those conversations in your workplace?